Start Your Own Personal Training Business

Your Step-by-Step Guide to Success

Cheryl Kimball

• Publisher: Entrepreneur Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781613083451
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Small Business
• Index: Business

Personal training is an exciting industry to be in right now! Starting a personal training business can offer a satisfying combination of financial reward, a flexible schedule, and a career where you can make a profound difference in the lives of others.As skilled personal trainer, having good business knowledge and judgment can be the first step to earning a substantial income. In this revised guide, our experts teach you the nuts and bolts of starting a business, including everything from writing a business plan to finding a profitable niche. From boutique studios to partnerships with schools and private trainers, this book will help get you started on the right foot.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction to Personal Training

This is an exciting time to be an entrepreneurial personal trainer. The opportunities for qualified fitness professionals who also understand how to run a business are virtually unlimited.

Take a look around. Obesity continues to be an epidemic. Many people of all ages are spending too much time in front of computers and TVs. This increasingly sedentary lifestyle is taking a tremendous toll on their health. Although fast-food restaurants have tried to rise to the challenge of offering more healthful menu items, they still serve up calorie-dense meals and regular restaurants offer massive portion sizes. We are a busy nation with families finding it difficult to prepare and serve nourishing meals.

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stat fact

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov), the job outlook for fitness trainers and instructors is on an 8 percent rise through 2024, which tracks with other occupations. Businesses and insurance companies continue to recognize the benefits of health and fitness programs and offer incentives to join gyms and health clubs, resulting in the need for them to hire more personal trainers.

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We are also becoming more aware of the downside of expanding waistlines. As people decide to get in shape, fitness professionals are well positioned to help. Whether the market is baby boomers wanting to regain some of their youthful vitality or parents looking for ways to provide positive role models for their children, they are turning to trainers. As well, the medical professions have recognized that diet and exercise are important for keeping people healthy and avoiding unnecessary health-care costs. Businesses large and small are realizing that healthy, fit employees are more productive. And they are all realizing that people need help to accomplish these fitness goals.

It’s no surprise that personal training is one of the top professions of the 21st century and a fast-growing segment of the fitness industry. With rare exceptions, personal trainers love what they do. After all, they’re not working on a production line or sitting in front of a computer—they’re helping people get and stay healthy and fit. For their efforts, they’re earning well above the minimum wage.

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stat fact

Despite international efforts to encourage exercise, physical inactivity remains the fourth leading risk factor for death worldwide. Many of the most common health issues today can be directly tied to sedentary lifestyles.

—Press release, February 23, 2016, American Council on Exercise (www.acefitness.org)

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Take the Exercise Is Medicine initiative put forth by the American Council on Exercise in 2007. In February 2016, this initiative announced an international collaboration including the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Council on Exercise, and the Medical Fitness Association. The initiative’s director, Dr. Felipe Lobelo, says, “Our goal is to elevate the status of physical activity so that it becomes a standard in health care.” And this can only mean an upward trajectory for the personal training industry.

While some clubs want their trainers to work as employees, many others are hiring independent contractors or contracting with personal training companies to meet their needs—and that means opportunity for you.

What Do Personal Trainers Do?

Personal trainers work with clients who need instruction and coaching in the areas of exercise physiology, kinesiology, injury prevention, recovery and rehabilitation, nutrition, supplementation, fitness assessment, exercise programming, sports conditioning, flexibility techniques, and more. Personal trainers continue to train both one-on-one and in group instruction. Group instruction provides multiple benefits to both trainer and trainee, including sociability, learning from peers as well as instructors, and typically lower rate structures for participants while still allowing ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Introduction to Personal Training
• Chapter 2: Designing Your Business
• Chapter 3: Structuring Your Business
• Chapter 4: Locating and Setting Up Your Business
• Chapter 5: Operating Online
• Chapter 6: Create a Social Media Presence in 19 Baby Steps
• Chapter 7: Setting Yourself Apart
• Chapter 8: Startup Expenses and Financing
• Chapter 9: Staffing Your Business
• Chapter 10: Building Client Relationships
• Chapter 11: Advertising and Marketing
• Chapter 12: Fiscal Fitness
• Chapter 13: Tales from the Trenches
• Appendix: Personal Training Resources
• Glossary
• Index